Facts About Hepatitis B -- The Disease and the Vaccine

Hepatitis B is a blood-borne disease, usually transmitted through blood, shared needles and
multiple sex partners. Most people are not at risk because the disease is not contagious and
only mildly infectious. In 2000, the incidence of Hepatitis B virus in the United States was
2.1 cases per 100,000 with less than 2% of those cases occurring in children.
Of these cases, 90 percent develop antibodies after a flu-like illness, then recover with immunity for life.1 The United States had one of the lowest rates of hepatitis B infection in the world before the hepatitis B vaccine was introduced.2

Although young children are in the lowest risk category for contracting hepatitis, they are given three doses of hepatitis B vaccine by the age of 18 months, and then a fourth booster shot around 11-12 years of age. Birthing hospitals routinely inject all newborns with their first hepatitis B vaccination before they leave the hospital. The only way a newborn is at risk for hepatitis is if it is born to a mother with an active hepatitis B infection.3

The liver in a newborn baby does not begin to function until after the first 48 to 72 hours of life. The enzymes in mother's milk assist the liver in beginning to function. Receiving a hepatitis B vaccine within the first few hours of life does nothing to protect the newborn. Rather, the opposite is true, since the vaccine may compromise proper development of the immune system.4

The hepatitis B vaccine, Recombivax HB, manufactured by Merck and Co., is a recombinant DNA
vaccine. It is produced by cloning the hepatitis virus, and then, adding the cloned virus to a
yeast-based culture. This culture, as with all vaccine cultures, contains a variety of foreign proteins
originating from other viruses and bacteria. In 1971, scientists in Geneva discovered that when viral
proteins are injected directly into the bloodstream, they combine with human genetic material,
causing DNA to mutate.5

Recombivax HB also contains the neurotoxin aluminum sulfate along
with thimerosal, a mercury derivative which the U.S. government has mandated
for removal from vaccines because of its ability to cause brain damage.6

By late 1998, there were 439 deaths in the United States attributed to the hepatitis B vaccine.7 Between 1991 and 1999, 25,000 adverse reactions to the hepatitis B vaccine were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).8 Since it has been shown that less than 10 percent of doctors report adverse reactions and many vaccine reactions are now diagnosed as SIDS or Shaken Baby Syndrome,9 there is no accurate accounting of just how many children and adults are suffering an adverse reaction to this vaccine.

Since 1987, there have been at least 38 reports in international medical literature showing that the hepatitis B vaccine causes chronic autoimmune and neurological disease in both children and adults.11 Because it is genetically engineered, Recombivax HB can confuse the body's immune system into attacking itself resulting in an auto-immune response such as multiple sclerosis (MS).12 In 1997, while publicly defending hepatitis B vaccine, the CDC produced an internal memo suggesting a "possible association between the vaccine and multiple sclerosis."13

In 1998, 15,000 people filed a class action lawsuit against the French government because the officially mandated hepatitis B vaccine caused thousands to develop MS-like symptoms. That year, France ended compulsory hepatitis B vaccinations.14

In 1998, data linking the vaccine to auto-immune diseases, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, was released at the 62nd annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.15 That same year, a study by Dr. John Classen, an immunologist at Classen Immunotherapies, published a paper linking hepatitis B vaccine with the development of insulin dependent diabetes in certain children. 16 Diabetes is considered an auto-immune disease.

Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, a Baylor College of Medicine professor and vaccine researcher for over twenty-five years, has a brother and two colleagues who have suffered disabling injuries from the hepatitis B vaccine. She told a congressional committee in 1999: "I have now been contacted personally by hundreds or more individuals with severe health problems and life long disabilities resulting in major medical costs following the administration of this (hepatitis B) vaccine."17 Dr. Dunbar confirms that it can take weeks or months for autoimmune disorders to develop following vaccination. 18

After many newborns died or suffered seizures, brain swelling and permanent brain damage following their hepatitis B injections, the dangers of the vaccine were brought to public attention by a documentary on ABC's 20/20.19 Finally in July, 1999, the CDC reversed its ill-advised mandate on giving the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns.20. Nevertheless, despite a decade of problems, and virtually no clinical control studies proving safety or efficacy, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices once again recommends in its 2002 immunization schedule that newborns be injected with the hepatitis B vaccine.

In 1999, Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) made the following statements about the hepatitis B vaccine:

"An independent review of the VAERS data; publications by governmental, pro-vaccine, and anti-vaccine groups; and a sample of the medical literature leads to the following conclusions: For most children, the risk of a serious vaccine reaction may be 100 times greater than the risk of hepatitis B....VAERS contains 25,000 reports related to hepatitis B vaccine, about one-third of which were serious enough to lead to an emergency room visit, hospitalization, or death."21

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has called for an immediate moratorium on mandatory hepatitis B vaccine for all children pending further research on the dangerous side effects. 22

For more information, or to obtain a $30 membership packet that documents the facts in this flyer, contact:

11. "Hepatitis B, The Untold Story": a 16-page Report sent to 55,000 pediatricians by the National Vaccine Information Center in 1999.

12. "Ounce of Prevention, Pound of Misery?" Insight Magazine, March 22, 1999, In this article, Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, professor of cell biology at Baylor College of Medicine and an award-winning vaccine research scientist has stated that because the hepatitis B vaccine derives from a surface protein of virus molecules, the similarities between the antigen and proteins in human nerves and tissues may trick the autoimmune systems of the genetically susceptible into attacking themselves. Dunbar says it may take months or years for the auto-immune response to become obvious.

16. "Vaccines Proven to be Largest Cause of Insulin Dependent Diabetes In Children" PR Newswire, September 11, 2000. This article says Classen presented data to the International Public Conference on Vaccination showing that vaccines cause at least 80% of diabetes in children who have received multiple vaccines starting after the first 2 months of life. His research showed that there was a 60 percent increase in Type I diabetes following a massive campaign in New Zealand to vaccinate babies with Hepatitis B vaccine. Dr. Classen's research was mentioned by Jane Orient, M.D. president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons to the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources of the Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, June 14, 1999. For more information, contact Classen Immunotherapies, at
classen@vaccines.net or 410-377-8526.

17. Testimony of Dr. Bonnie Dunbar before the Texas Department of Health, March 12, 1999.

18. "Hepatitis B Vaccine Reaction Reports Outnumber reported Disease Cases in Children According to Vaccine Safety Group," report released by the National Vaccine Information Center, January 27, 1999.

19. 20/20, January 27,1999. Additional information and also testimony was then gleaned at a hearing on hepatitis B vaccine damage conducted by the House Subcommittee of Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resource's, May 18, 1999.

20. "Fed Policy Reversed on Hep B Vaccine," Gannett News Service, July 11, 1999.
On July 9, 1999, the US Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics announced
cancellation of their previous recommendation to inject newborns with the hepatitis B vaccine.

21. Statement by Jane Orient, M.D., president of the Association of American Physicians and
Surgeons to the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources of the
Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, June 14, 1999.
http://www.aapsonline.org/testimony/hepbcom.htm